WASHINGTON, Jan 5: The United States may initiate efforts to haul Iran before the UN Security Council if it pursues its latest threat to resume nuclear fuel research, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned on Thursday.

“They shouldn’t do it because it would really be a sign that they are not prepared to actually make diplomacy work,” Ms Rice told reporters.

“In terms of the next phase, if negotiations have been exhausted, we have the votes, there is a resolution sitting there on the Security Council, we’ll vote it,” she said.

Tehran announced on Tuesday in a letter that it would on Jan 9 resume research for its ‘program for peaceful nuclear energy’, which was suspended two years ago, prompting the IAEA to seek ‘clarifications’. —AFP